Healing Path Reflection Booth

Grandview Cemetery, Maryville, Tennessee, United States

This beautiful wind telephone is part of a special grief walk called Healing Path in the back corner of Grandview Cemetery in Maryville, Tennessee, United States, which is close to Knoxville and about three hours east of Nashville. It was created in late 2019.

It is surrounded by river rocks and bushes, and it overlooks a quaint barn with the Smoky Mountains in the distance. It matches a nearby pavilion. This is a pretty fancy wind telephone with phone chargers for your connected phone, a light with a motion sensor, air conditioning, and a granite desk. There are signs in the booth that explain the wind phone - they refer to the building as a reflection booth rather than a wind telephone - and the writing of notes which will be incinerated after being dropped in a mailbox outside of the building. There are blinds on all three windows but not at the door.

While it has a deadbolt lock, it is open 24 hours a day per Dr Jason Troyer, one of the creators.

To recreate this professionally-built wind telephone, you will need to create a full building with a foundation and underground wiring for the air conditioning, light, and plugs. Unless you are an excellent builder, it is probably best to show the photographs to a professional for construction.

It is definitely a very complex and well-built phone, and it was an honor to be able to visit it with my father. Many thanks to the Healing Path creators, Dr Jason Troyer, the creator of the Grief Plan, and Dr Lynn Gibson, both of the Center for Hope and Well-Being in Maryville.